Meningitis cases in Kent drop as vaccine rollout continues
The number of cases of meningitis linked to an outbreak in Kent has dropped as a campaign to vaccinate thousands of young people continued into a fourth day.
Confirmed cases have fallen from 23 to 20, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in an update on Sunday morning, after they were downgraded following further testing.
Meanwhile, suspected cases under investigation have also fallen from 11 to nine, meaning the total number of cases is 29, down from 34 on Saturday.
Nineteen of the 20 confirmed cases are meningitis B and all cases have required hospital admission.
It comes as dozens of eligible people, including students, queued up again around the county for the menB vaccine or antibiotics, although numbers in the lines have dropped considerably since the rollout began on Wednesday, with no queue outside the previously busy University of Kent Canterbury campus vaccination site as of 10am on Sunday.
The UKHSA said it expects more cases to be downgraded in the coming days as further laboratory assessments are completed.